Dimensions
by mockingjay98
Summary: Nadir has been on the run for a while now, and theres only one thing on his mind: Destroy Skulduggery. I mean, what else is there to do on a Sunday evening anyway? But how much is too much for Mr Pleasant?
1. Chapter 1

Nadir opened his eyes, and for the first time in a long time, he smiled. It wasn't an "_I'm going to find joy in killing you and shunting your corpse to an alternate dimension"_ smile either; it was more of a "_Yay! I'm so happy now because I have a new puppy!"_ smile. Not that Nadir smiled at puppies. In fact, he found them annoying and yappy and needy, and he thought the best solution to an annoying puppy was a dead annoying puppy.

Someone shook his arm. "Mr. Nadir? Sir, are you alright? Has the shunt hurt you? Oh my God, what's wrong with you mouth?!" The small man Nadir had hired as the brains of his group was tugging at his arm and summoning the brawn of his group, two large, stocky men.

Nadir shook his head, and rubbed his eyes. "I was smiling!" he snapped. He ran a hand through his hair, and took in their current surroundings.

They were in a quiet alley between two suburban area houses, and Nadir looked out to see an estate full of identical terraced houses, and somewhere behind all those houses was Mary's Secondary school. He hoped. He turned back to his men.

"Right," he said, and he pointed to the small man, who pushed his glasses up onto his nose, and did some sort of a whimper. "You. What's your name again?"

"Derr- " the man began, but Nadir cut him off. "Okay, sorry, but to be honest, I don't care. So today, your name is Cecil, because you have glasses and you're a scientist with a general air of geek to you."

The man nodded slowly. "Uh, okay then."

Nadir glanced at the three other men. They were identical twins, all with jet black hair, stocky figures, and crisp grey suits that according to rumours, never needed to be cleaned, and never came off the triplets, which was pretty practical, seeing their adept magic was combusting victims brains from the inside. Nadir only knew them as… well, Nadir didn't actually know them, they referred to themselves as 'unknown'. A little cliché for assassins, Nadir had to say- but hey, he wasn't going to complain about brain busters.

"Okay," Nadir began. "I've been training for this particular shunt for a whole year non-stop, and according to Cecil here, we may only have a certain amount of time before we shunt back automatically. So, that means no lunch break. Sorry." Nadir checked his watch. 3.45 p.m. "The students should be leaving now, and I want this over with as quickly and as quietly as possible."

Renn Mills hefted her heavy bag onto her shoulders, and plugged in a pair of earphones. She hummed along to the lyrics of the song, and stepped outside into the empty school car park. Most of the students had left, but she'd been kept back by her year head regarding her homework. Or perhaps, lack thereof.

"Is everything okay at home?" He'd asked. "Because, you know, you can talk to me anytime, about… well… about home."

Renn had told him that her home was perfectly fine, and then asked him if he had a problem with her home.

"No, of course not Renn, but I know you're having issues at home with your father…"

Renn had smiled sweetly at him. "Yes, he's been convicted of assaulting my mother on numerous occasions and of drunk driving. Which probably makes sense now that I think of it, because he's an alcoholic."

Her year head had fidgeted uncomfortably then, and assured her briefly that the school staff was happy to help with any problems, and rushed off.

"Stupid nosy little…" Renn murmured. She swung around the corner outside the school gates, where her best friend Lee sat at the bus stop, his glasses perched on his nose as he stared intently at his book. She grinned. He's probably waited for her to get the late bus.

She plonked down beside him, pulling her earphones out.

Lee jumped and nearly dropped the book when he saw her. "Renn… Don't do that!"

Renn grinned, and peered over at his book. "I see you're thoroughly into my book. Told 'ya it was good." She leaned back and crossed her legs. "I got good taste!" She said with a wink.

Lee rolled his eyes, and put the book back into the satchel around his shoulder. "Yeah yeah. It is good though. For a fantasy."

Renn laughed. "I like fantasy. It gets me out of reality for a while, y'know?" Lee's smile vanished, replaced with anxious pity. "Renn, I know your dad –"

"Hey there." Renn and Lee looked up to see a tall, bulky man with a closely shaven head smile down at them.

Renn glanced at Lee uneasily, and back at the man. "Uh… Hi." She shifted over closer to Lee so the man could sit down. The man shook his head and outstretched his arm to Renn.

"I'm Agent … Nadir. Agent Nadir. I'm going to need to have a talk with Miss Renn here."

Renn didn't accept the handshake, and glanced at Lee.

"Agent?" Lee asked. "I didn't know the Taoiseach hired agents."

"He does," Agent Nadir said insistently, nodding his head, and glancing at his watch nervously. "I'm going to have to take Renn here back to HQ with me for a questioning."

Renn narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Where's your ID? You should have ID showing that you work for the Gardaí, or whatever."

Agent Nadir shifted uncomfortably, glancing at his watch again. "I do have ID, in my van." He jerked his thumb behind him at a van with a very dodgy looking 'Gardaí' logo painted on.

Renn raised her eyebrows. "You've got to be kidding me. What is this, a hidden cameras show?" She looked around her. Nobody was around, except for two men in suits approaching them at a stroll.

"Look," Lee said, "If you don't leave now, I'm calling the guards, or…" he glanced around uneasily. "We'll tell those guys over there, if you don't go."

Nadir smiled creepily. "You _are_ clever children, aren't you?" He flexed his arms and Lee got up, pulling Renn up with him, but the two men had arrived and blocked their way.

"Get away!" Renn yelled. She tried ducking under the man on her right, but he grabbed her around the waist, and threw her over her shoulder. "_RUN!"_ she screamed at Lee.

Lee eyed the two bulky men in suits in front of him desperately, and aimed a feeble punch that they caught swiftly, twisting it behind his back. Lee cried out in pain, and Nadir placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "That's enough," he said. "Bring him too, he's seen us, and I don't know if there are magical communities here capable of chasing us back." The man nodded, and picked Lee up kicking and screaming, and threw him into the back of the van with Renn.

Nadir stayed behind a moment, and picked up the book that had fallen out of Lee's satchel. He peered at it, and frowned. "No," he murmered. "No… it couldn't be." He flicked to the title page, and then suddenly, he smiled. "Skulduggery Pleasant: Death Bringer," he read aloud. "Well," Nadir said. "It seems even the alternate dimensions have a wild enough imaginations to think you up." He tucked the book into his jacket, and jumped into the front of the van with the three men.

"Drive on boys," he said. "We have a deadline to make."


	2. Chapter 2

_Click._

"_Hello?" Renn pushed her blanket off her. "Mom?"_

_Tap-tap-tap-stumble. "Mom?" she said again, this time in a whisper. She glanced at the clock on her pink wall, and frowned. It was 3 am. Was someone breaking in? She grabbed her phone off the bedside table, and tip toed out onto the landing, leaning over the railing, careful not to make a sound._

_Just below, the flickering glare of the muted telly barely outlined her mother's slumped figure on the couch, asleep. Beside her, leaning against the doorframe unsteadily was the outline of a man. Renn froze, and then the man's head turned towards her, and a familiar face formed a sheepish grin and waved sloppily. "Baby!" her father called out a bit too loud, and she heard the thump of her mother get off the couch. _

"_Aaron?" her mother stared at Renn's father in disbelief, and then up at Renn. "Bed, Renn," she said wearily. Renn crept back into the shadows, still listening, her heart thumping. Just as she thought, their voices raised as soon as she disappeared. Her mother's first, then slowly her father's slurring voice rose to high and drunken irritation turned to anger._

Thwack.

_Renn curled up against the wall and blocked out the sound of her mother crying._

Renn woke up with a start, and bumped her head off the ceiling of wherever she was. "Ow," she muttered, and felt around her for a light switch, or a doorknob, _something. _She felt soft sheets under her, which ended abruptly a bit to her left. She felt behind her, and up a metal headboard, until she came upon a button. She pressed, and a small sidelight clicked on beside her, and the room flooded with light. She was on the top bunk of a bunk bed, in a tiny room with clean gray patterned wallpaper. The smallest wall at the foot of the bed was wavy white metal, and Renn realised she must be in a mobile home. There was barely enough room to jump off the bed onto the dark green carpet, which led to a door at the end of what Renn decided was more of a cell than a bedroom.

She rubbed her arm, and winced. When she pulled up her school jumper, there was a small bruise where someone had injected a shiny fluid into her arm as soon as she and Lee were thrown into the van.

_Lee_, she thought suddenly.

She hopped down the side of the bunk bed, immediately regretting not using the ladder when a sharp pain shot up her ankle. She peered down at the mess of blankets that covered the lump on the bed, and after considering a gentle wake up, poked the lump roughly, and whipped the blankets off. "Lee!" she whispered, and then frowned at the bed. The mess of blankets was in fact covering, more messy blankets. A throught ran through her head. What if they'd done something to Lee? What did they want him for? What did they want_ her_ for? She crept towards the door and pressed her face against it.

"_What do you mean, we've run out?"_ she heard a voice growl to the left.

"I- I… I'm so sorry… I didn't think you'd want any…" another, weaker voice stammered.

_Thump._ "Don't want any?! Of course I want some! Who doesn't like- "

Suddenly, the door swung open and Renn fell face first on the floor with a graceful 'Oof'. She got up on her hands and knees before someone glided swiftly over to her and picked her up roughly by the back of her jacket. Before her, was the end of the mobile home. A large window looked out on black skies, and below the window was a small kitchen table with a battered couch where four people sat squashed together staring at her.

The small man on the right she recognised as the man driving the van they were hauled into, Cecil. Beside him, was a giant man identical to the one holding her, in a crisp grey suit. On the left,Nadir, and smack in the middle, Lee.

"Renn!" Lee gasped. He tried to sit up, but was yanked down again, and Renn noticed shackles on his wrists, tying him to the table. She also saw a tiny web camera pointing at Lee's face on the table.

Nadir smiled. "You can let her go," he said, waving dismissively at the man holding her. He let go, and stepped back in front of the main door protectively. Renn stumbled a little uncertainly.

Nadir laughed. "I'm so sorry Renn, my dear; we seem to be out of seats. And Cheerios," he added with a glare to the small man.

Renn scowled at him, and glanced around. The room was stripped bare, bar the tiny counter to her right. Nothing she could throw or use as defence.

"My parents…" she began, "_Lee's_ parents will have noticed we're missing. I'm sure they'll find us." She tried to sound confident like in the movies, but her voice trembled.

Nadir smiled. "Oh don't worry. We're not looking for a ransom."

Renn paled. "You're just going to kill us?" The thought made a wave of cold flow through her, and she suddenly felt weak at the knees. "We're just …" she began, but Lee looked up and shook his head. His face, she realised, was much paler than usual, and his brown eyes were wide and wild. It was the look he gave her when something was wrong.

"They're not going to kill us," he said. "They're exchanging us for their own safely from the… from the police."

Renn let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding in. "So… we can go home?"

Cecil let out a nervous chuckle. "I'm afraid returning home may not be possible in your situation."

Renn shook her head slowly. "I… I don't get it. Where … What's going on? The police can just drive us home. I mean, are we even in Ireland anymore? They can fly us home, it doesn't matter - "

Lee shook his head, and he looked close to tears now. "It's not that simple Renn!" he practically wailed.

Nadir seemed to be enjoying their stress immensely. "As much as I benefit from your discomfort, Lee here has a video conference to attend, and I doubt the Sanctuary will appreciate any hold ups on schedule."

"Sanctuary?" Renn whispered? "Who…"

Lee had buried his head in his hands now, and was muttering something about his family, and… did he say magic?

Nadir grinned. "You are in Ireland, but not the one you know. I've shunted us back to my dimension. Things work a little different here." He gestured to Cecil, who clicked his fingers.

Renn felt her eyes tilt back, and her knees buckling.

The man had conjured fire.

Valkyrie Cain was not happy. Her hair was awful, her clothes were the same she'd worn yesterday and thrown on her on the way out her window. "Could you not give me a little warning before you drag me out of the house mid morning?"

Skulduggery shrugged as she heaved herself into the Bentley. "You would rather sleep than have fun solving crime with me?"

Valkyrie glared at him, and waved her mobile in his face. "Five minutes," she said bitterly. "One little text five minutes ago and I would be totally decent now."

"I think you look smashing."

Valkyrie threw herself back into her seat, and pulled on her seatbelt. "I'm going to sulk now." She said grumpily. "I'm going to sulk the entire way to the Sanctuary, and when we get there, I'm going to sulk even more and embarrass you in front of everyone."

Skulduggery pulled out of the drive. "I think it's adorable when you sulk. And you won't want to sulk at the Sanctuary. We'll be talking to a pair of hostages taken by Silas Nadir, and according to Clarabelle, the male one is very attractive. Apparently he has that dreamy look, you like that one from- "

Valkyrie stared at him. "We're dealing with _hostages_ and you're all debating his _looks?"_

"I think he looks like a crossover of James Dean and Heath Ledger."

"You have a crush on Grace Kelly, so I don't trust your judgment of appearances."

Skulduggery looked at her. "Not naming any names, can you think of any of _your_ misjudged crushes? A certain bloodsucking-"

"Shut up."

"Grace Kelly is a fine woman." Skulduggery parked outside the Sanctuary, the usually full car park dotted with only a few cars.

Valkyrie got out as soon as the car stopped, and slammed the door behind her, stalking off into the Sanctuary. Skulduggery sighed and followed.

Ghastly Bespoke met them as soon as Valkyrie threw open the double doors to the conference room. "This better be- " she began, and stopped when she saw The Elders and a few senior sorcerers, their faces grave and dark.

"Valkyrie. Skulduggery." Ghastly gestured at a pair of seats at the table the council had gathered around. A large plasma TV sat in front of them, and Erskine Ravel was plugging it to a laptop.

Madame Mist rose from her seat elegantly as ever, her delicate features barely visible behind her greying veil, spiders occasionally scuttling in and out "An emergency meeting has been called today, in relevance to a call to the Sanctuary earlier. Silas Nadir, an escaped prisoner, whose location remains unknown- "

"Please," Ravel interrupted, his face creased in anxiety. "Madame Mist, with all due respect, I'd like to keep things brief." Madame Mist sat haughtily.

"Silas Nadir," he continued, "has two teenage hostages from another unknown dimension. He apparently has… demands, in exchange for their safety." He looked uneasily at Skulduggery and Valkyrie. "He insisted that Skulduggery and Valkyrie be here."

The screen suddenly flickered to life. A teenage boy with chocolaty brown hair and worried blue eyes sat at the screen, a brown bag in his arms.

"Hello?" Ghastly sat forward. "Can you hear us? Are you hurt?"

The boy's eyes widened, and his mouth gaped. "Oh Jesus," he whispered. Valkyrie thought she saw some likeness in him to someone, but she couldn't pin it down. It definitely wasn't Heath Ledger.

"James Dean," Skulduggery whispered in her ear, but there was something off about the way his voice wavered.

"Where is the other hostage? Is she safe?" Ghastly said slowly to the screen. Someone was murmuring something to the boy behind the screen impatiently.

"Christ, I can't believe it." The boy said. "I… are you Ghastly? Oh Lord, Skulduggery? My God, you're real, you're really real…" His voice was bordering on shaky.

"Of course we're…" Skulduggery began, but another voice came from the screen.

"Tell them about the book."

The boy tipped the bag, trembling, and held up a hardback book, staring at the council in disbelief.

_Skulduggery Pleasant_:_ Death Bringer,_ it read.

The voice from behind the camera boomed. "This, my friends, is a book from his dimension. It tells us all about your dream team here. Why don't we ask Valkyrie and Skulduggery about their… _secret?"_

The Council turned to look at Valkyrie and Skulduggery. Valkyrie felt a cold wash over her, and Skulduggery's hand gripping her arm.

"Bring the boy," Skulduggery said. His voice was usually cold and gritty. "Give him to us, and we can organize demands through him."

Ravel frowned. "Skulduggery, it's obviously just a ploy. Why don't we-"

"What have you to hide, Mr Pleasant?" Madame Mist was smiling eerily. "Surely it is not worthy of these young children's lives." Skulduggery was digging his hand into Valkyrie's arm.

"You don't understand," was all he said.  
The voice from the screen laughed. "It's a deal, Pleasant."

The screen went blank.

"What have you done?" One of the sorcerers said hotly. "They could be killed, in the hands of a psychopath, and you- "

Skulduggery rose, hauling Valkyrie up with him. "Call me when he arrives," he murmured. "Nobody touches that book but me." He left the doors swinging behind him.

Valkyrie glanced at the Council nervously. Ghastly and Ravel's faces were of raised eyebrows and questioning looks, but Madame Mist and the sorcerers were raging.

She shot an apologetic look at Ravel and Ghastly, and followed Skulduggery out. He was standing at the Bentley, staring out at the dark sky. She shivered. "What do we do? They're going to find out."

Skulduggery didn't move. "There's only one way. We get rid of Silas Nadir for once and for all. Him and his hostages know too much."

Valkyrie froze. "What do you mean, get rid of them?"

He looked at her, cocking his head sideways.

"I'm going to organise their assassination."


End file.
